How do you top the most famous mens shoe in history on its 30th anniversary? Marc Dolce faced that question when Nike tapped him to create the Lunar Force 1, a limited edition of the Air Force 1.

Nike debuted Dolce's $125 LF1 last month in New York, the latest in a wide family of Lunar models and a milestone that is no small thing: The company has produced more than 1,500 versions since its debut in 1982 spawned thousands of obsessed--and obsessive--fans.

Redesigning such an icon takes special consideration, as you might imagine. Dolce knew what he was in for. Not that it made it any easier.

“Sketching with a blank sheet of paper is easy because it’s like blue sky thinking--I can do whatever,” Dolce, 37, told me. "But I have such a high level of respect for the Air Force. Not only do I respect the shoe, I respect the people who have worked on the shoe. It has become a global icon, and I don’t want to be the one to go in and just be like, Yeah I’m going to change this.”

I met Dolce at Nike's New York headquarters in the meatpacking district; the Brooklyn-born designer wore jeans and camouflage Supreme x Nike Air Force shoes along with a navy pullover jacket. A boyish mien belied strong credentials to tinker: Educated in industrial design at Pratt, Dolce got his first job in footwear as an intern at 19, then joined Nike several years later.

He had initially wanted to design cars, but the accessibility and creativity that shoes afforded ultimately made them more intriguing.

“Growing up my mom didn’t have a lot of money, so I would wear some copies,” he said. “The first time I actually remember seeing a pair of shoes was probably the Jordan II, and I was like, Wow that looks different from everything else I’ve seen. And then as I got older I started obsessing over it.”

(The guy wore only one pair of non-Nike shoes once during his high school career, and it didn’t exactly take: “It just didn’t feel right.”)

Fast forward two decades, and the Air Force line still compels sneaker geeks everywhere. Whether he’s in Japan or Germany, Dolce says, kids want to know only two things: (1) which NBA players he’s working with (he works with Lebron, Kobe, Penny and Rasheed, among others) and (2) what fans can expect from the future of the line. It will “definitely” be around for another 30 years, he says.

“It’s an emotional connection with product,” he says. “I did a sketch of Jordan dunking in ’91, and I held onto that sketch because that was for me the point in time when I realized you could combine sport and fashion together. That was the difference.”

The new LF1 boasts better flexibility and comfort than its predecessor. Indeed, Dolce’s adjustments have earned critical acclaim and enabled significant weight reduction in the process: he modified the beveling in the “Lunarlon” cushioning in the midsole and outsole, slimmed the toe-box, and used “Hyperfuse” construction in the upper portion to combine three layers of material--one for stability, one for breathability and one for durability--into one composite case (translation: the shoe has no tongue).

Dolce also kept the pivot space on the sole of the shoe--it’s functional and a signature touchtone of the brand--but added a portion in the center where you can actually feel the foam inside. It lends an important level of “dimensionalism” that engages the people who wear the shoe.

Shoe designer Marc Dolce works out of Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. His aesthetic was influenced Tinker Hatfield, who designed several Jordan editions in the early 1990s.

“It’s a memory foam--when you put your foot in that you immediately feel a difference,” he says. “I don’t know anything outside of Nike that uses it.”

He would know. Frequent visits to Europe and Asian glean inspiration from architecture, cars, fashion and scent; he constantly searches for something--anything--new to catch his eye. Not that he has to be in Tokyo to see it.

“I get a lot of my inspiration from New York,” Dolce says. “People say Japan is crazy but New York to me is a combination of street wear and sportswear and high-end fashion that gets mixed. You don’t really see that anywhere else."

He lives in Oregon now but returns to New York often. For good reason.

“The streets here talk to me when I walk," Dolce says, admitting it's cliché to say but true. "Maybe it’s just because this is my hometown, but I feel like I can hear it.”